EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2014: The Results

[Josh]

True Detective probably has become overrated, but it remains a really damn good season of TV.

The Walking Dead is the first show I can recall hate-watching (regularly) since . . . the end of the US Office? Probably. I genuinely liked the first couple seasons of Walking Dead, but it has since gone to varying degrees of infuriating or flaccid. The most recent half a season was more the latter, with some of the former peppered in.

I don't watch Arrow and it doesn't seem like my kind of show, but I'm actually okay with it placing this high. It seems like it knows what it is, does that well, and has a loyal fanbase for it.

[zero]

The AV Club just did a great article about the rise of mid-reputable TV, shows like Arrow, The Flash, Sleepy Hallow, etc... shows that are great fun with loyal fanbases that are never going to win any awards, but aren't trying to.

It's my go-to argument when I talk about why I hate numerical grades when reviewing art. Movies like Beetlejuice or Ghostbusters are some of my all-time favorites, infinite rewatch potential, they obviously weren't nominated for Oscars, but they were never intended to. How do you grade them on the same scale as a film like The Godfather?

So yeah, if I can contradict myself for a second, The Walking Dead is by no means a better show than Mad Men, but it doesn't try to be. Sons of Anarchy tried to be and it eventually sucked because of it. It's hard for those two different approaches to quality television to not clash when we do lists like this.

[Jimmy]

Agreed 100%. It was the 3rd best show of 2014 for me. I feel like TD is about to become like GoT, where the fanbase is too loyal to the show and hail it as the best show ever even if the quality dips.

But that quality hasn't dipped :/

GAME OF THRONES 4 EVA!!!

[Benjamin]

4 EVA!

[Josh]

The AV Club just did a great article about the rise of mid-reputable TV, shows like Arrow, The Flash, Sleepy Hallow, etc... shows that are great fun with loyal fanbases that are never going to win any awards, but aren't trying to.

It's my go-to argument when I talk about why I hate numerical grades when reviewing art. Movies like Beetlejuice or Ghostbusters are some of my all-time favorites, infinite rewatch potential, they obviously weren't nominated for Oscars, but they were never intended to. How do you grade them on the same scale as a film like The Godfather?

So yeah, if I can contradict myself for a second, The Walking Dead is by no means a better show than Mad Men, but it doesn't try to be. Sons of Anarchy tried to be and it eventually sucked because of it. It's hard for those two different approaches to quality television to not clash when we do lists like this.

The only shows in recent memory that I felt combined these two types (awards fodder and fun for a loyal audience) successfully were Breaking Bad and now Hannibal. But yes, those are rarities.

[Benjamin]

Fun is not what I would call Hannibal

[Josh]

It delivers a sort of immediate emotional, visceral reaction on a weekly basis, much like Breaking Bad did and, say, Mad Men does not. Both are tremendous, complex shows, worthy of all their heaps of praise, but I would guess that Breaking Bad got a more spread out audience in terms of taste. Hannibal's audience is still very niche, but it does deliver that sense of a major event happening each week, with lots of thrills, grotesque as they often are.

[GoGo Yubari]

[Jimmy]

Game of Thrones 4 eva!

[zero]

Fun is not what I would call Hannibal

I dunno, Bryan Fuller has described it as a "very, very, very dark comedy" and I think that's a pretty great description of the show. It does stress me out in a way only Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and The Shield can, but it also makes me laugh a lot.

Also... I don't get Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Maybe I just haven't watched enough of it, I like it just fine, but I feel like I'm watching it wrong when people rave this much about it.

[Walker]

I should probably watch Flash and Arrow.

[LittleDaniel]

Coming up on four years now, actually

And I've never seen it on DVD anywhere, I've never seen it advertised on TV, and it isn't on Netflix, so I can't watch it on there. I've heard lots of good things about it, I've just never had access to it.

I'm pretty sure it's on Canadian Netflix, so if you happen to have a way of being Canadian you should be able to watch it.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Coming up on four years now, actually

And I've never seen it on DVD anywhere, I've never seen it advertised on TV, and it isn't on Netflix, so I can't watch it on there. I've heard lots of good things about it, I've just never had access to it.

I'm pretty sure it's on Canadian Netflix, so if you happen to have a way of being Canadian you should be able to watch it.

*checks passport*

Dammit!

I do have the Hola extension, I'd just never tried the Canadian Netflix. Thanks for the tip!